Ben Affleck not directing Batman/The Flash movie rewrite

Surprising pretty much no one, two bits of less than great news about the DC Cinematic Universe (or the DC Extended Universe as Warner Brothers refers to it) were announced this week: Ben Affleck won't be directing his highly anticipated Batman solo movie The Batman and The Flash movie is getting a rewrite. This seems to be a fairly frequent occurrence for the DCEU, especially in regards to The Flash movie.

Let's start with the Batman solo movie.

Variety was the first to report Affleck stepping down from directing duties. He will still produce, cowrite the movie with Geoff Johns (presumably), and star in the film (obviously). This is really disappointing since Affleck directing "The Batman" was seen as a sign of hope for the DCEU which has, so far, severely disappointed the majority of fans and critics with its first three releases (although Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad were both box office successes making $872 million and $745 million respectively). I do understand his reasoning though. Writing, directing, and starring in a $100-$200 million blockbuster is a crazy amount of pressure and work. There's a lot riding on the film so it makes sense as to why he decided not to direct it. Here's a full quote from Affleck regarding his decision:

"There are certain characters who hold a special place in the hearts of millions,” Affleck said in a statement. “Performing this role demands focus, passion and the very best performance I can give. It has become clear that I cannot do both jobs to the level they require. Together with the studio, I have decided to find a partner in a director who will collaborate with me on this massive film. I am still in this, and we are making it, but we are currently looking for a director. I remain extremely committed to this project, and look forward to bringing this to life for fans around the world.”

Deadline reports that rumored directors to take over the film are: Matt Reeves - director of Cloverfield, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes- and Matt Ross who recently directed the Viggo Mortinson starring Captain Fantastic. While Forbes wrote that Gavin O'Connor, Denis Villeneuve, and George Miller are possibilities.

Edit February 1st: Chris Terrio, who won an Oscar for his work on Argo, was hired to do a rewrite on the script. Add it to the list of the bumps in the road for this movie. So who knows when this movie will happen and it what shape it'll come out.

Now onto the Flash movie news.

WB has decided to in an entirely new direction, ordering a full rewrite for the script of Ezra Miller's Flash movie hiring Joby Harold to do the job. Harold's most recent work was writing Guy Ritchie's King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. This is just another piece of bad news for the film which lost two directors last year over creative differences and no director(s) currently lined up to take over. The movie was originally slated to go into production early this year and released March 16th of next year, but now is on hold. Cyborg was originally revealed to be appearing in the movie but it is unclear if he'll remain after the rewrite.

It's been rough for many DC fans to remain hopeful over the last year or so, myself included. Hopefully things turn around though as I really want the DCEU to succeed and release great movies. It all depends on Warner Bros. though, as a major problem have been studio interference and their rush to catch up to the MCU.